Working Girl
by AutobotSoShi
Summary: TFP: "Okay so maybe hitchhiking wasn't the best idea I've ever had!" When Jessica finally decides to run away from home, the people she meets may just change her life forever. Rated M for some content. (I'm very bad at summaries!)
1. Chapter 1

_The poll is finished, thanks to everyone who voted :) _

_The name that won was Jessica._

* * *

Jessica Murray sighed quietly as one of her customers flopped around over her like a dead fish. The pungent smell of tobacco hung heavily in the air. The man leered at her and forcefully kissed her, his tongue slithering about in her mouth like a dead slug.

Jessica repressed a shiver of disgust as he roughly groped her breasts .She was almost numb to the sensation as he quickly pulled out and came over her exposed stomach and chest. The man tossed a few dollar bills at her before quickly pulling up his trousers and rushing back to his wife and young daughter.

He left wordlessly, slamming the door behind him. Her father stormed into the room, "How much did ya' make this time?" he grabbed the money greedily, the light in his eyes fading as he realised it was less than usual.

He grabbed the blonde by her hair, shaking her back and forth like a terrier with a dead rat. "You go out there again and make some more money or you're out on the street! Who on earth would want a slut like you? Mark my words Jessica you need me way more than I need you!"

He pulled her to her feet and slapped her hard. Jessica struggled against him and managed to land a punch on his nose. This enraged him more and he rained punches down on the slight frame of his teenage daughter until she went limp. Her father slammed the door and stalked off down the hallway, cursing the fifteen-year old to hell and back.

After his heavy footsteps faded into the distance, she took a photo of her mother and her younger sister Aileen from behind her pillow. Her mother had walked out long ago when Jessica was only six, taking her infant sister Aileen with her. In the nasty custody battle that followed, Jessica was left in her father's custody.

Jessica clutched the photo tightly, how could you love and hate somebody at the same time?

* * *

The next morning Jessica hauled herself out of bed, wincing as she looked at her battered and bruised face in the mirror. The blonde tottered over to her wardrobe and hurriedly pulled on the only half-decent thing she had. An old threadbare grey t-shirt that just covered her battered stomach and a tattered skirt that just came to above her knees.

After applying a whole bottle of concealer in an effort to hide the bruises and cuts that covered her face, the girl came to a decision.

She had to get out, one way or another.

Jessica grabbed her school bag and emptied the few books she had onto the bed. She had never been good at school and struggled with reading. Her father had stopped her going anyway a few years ago. In his eyes she was too stupid to go, so why waste his time when he needed her to work?

She shoved her old Animaniacs t-shirt into the bag, it was way too small for her but she loved it. An old pair of worn-out converse knock-offs, the only shoes she had that weren't heels, she pulled them on and shoved the stripper heels into the bag. She hastily put on a fraying red jumper and threw some spare change and a packet of biscuits into the bag.

She was ready to go.

* * *

She slowly pushed open the door, wincing as it creaked loudly. After a few minutes she relaxed and continued tip-toeing tentatively down the hall. As soon as she stepped out of the front door she started running. She didn't look back.

Soon another problem arose, where was she going to go and how? The spare change she had barely covered a bag of chips. She decided to hitchhike. It was the fastest and easiest way she could think of out of this city anyway. Cheered up by her plan, she bought a bag of chips and set off for the interstate.

* * *

"Okay so maybe hitchhiking wasn't the best idea I've ever had" Jessica wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as she watched a seemingly endless line of cars fly past her.

Her feet ached from walking for miles and the girl sank to the cold hard ground in despair.

She perked up as some flash-race car stopped beside her. "Probably some Indy 500 wannabe" she thought to herself.

The door opened, seemingly by itself.

"Are you gonna get in or not?"


	2. Chapter 2

Jessica quickly got up and got into the car, not wanting to pass up a free ride. The driver was a young man; he looked about seventeen or eighteen. What really caught Jessica's eyes were his eyes.

They were the brightest blue she had ever seen, and they seemed to glow in the dim light of the car. He smiled at her and Jessica blushed and turned away as she realised she had been caught staring.

"So where'd ya wanna go?" the friendly question caught Jessica off guard. "Um, uh" she stuttered "Uh Nevada!" she blurted out the first place that came to mind.

He smiled at her again and started talking about his place in Nevada, his friends and his love of racing. Jessica noticed the dreamy look in eyes when he spoke about racing. "So what's your name?" the innocent question seemed to catch him off guard. "It's um.. Sam. But most of my friends call me Smoky"

"Why do they call you that?" Jessica asked him. "Because I leave most of the other racers in the dust!" he laughed.

He continued to talk to her and despite herself, Jessica fell asleep. Leaned against the car window with her mouth wide open, it was hardly her finest moment. Smokescreen contemplated waking her up but decided against it.

In his experience, it was never good to wake a human femme up when she wanted to sleep.

* * *

"_Hi Aileen! I'm Jessica your big sister! We're gonna have so much fun! I can't wait until you get big and we can play Barbies and do hair and share secrets" six- year old Jessica was very excited about having a sister. In her mind it was as good as having a friend, and she had never had one of those before._

_Her mother hastily hushed the excited child. Jessica's father was asleep upstairs and he hated it when the children made noise. Jessica nodded and smiled a wide toothy smile, showing the gap where her front teeth had fallen out._

"_Yes momma" she whispered, holding a tiny finger to her pursed lips. She reached a hand down to Aileen and gasped when the baby grasped her finger hard. "We're gonna be friends forever!" Jessica grinned, planning in her head all the things she and Aileen would do when Aileen was older._

_Suddenly Aileen began to wail, making Jessica's mother jump in surprise. She rushed over to the crib and picked up the baby, trying to soothe her before the shrieks woke her husband._

_Jessica's father stormed downstairs. "What's making that noise!" he yelled, making Aileen cry louder with the fright. Jessica ran underneath the coffee table and cowered there as her parents argued back and forth, Aileen screaming at the top of her lungs all the while._

_Jessica placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. Maybe if she closed her eyes it would all stop._

_The sharp ugly sound of a slap made Jessica tremble in fear. When Daddy started hitting it took a long time for him to stop._

_Jessica's father grabbed Aileen from her mother's grasp, shaking the child back and forth like a ragdoll. Jessica's mother shrieked and kicked him in the groin. His grip on Aileen loosened and Jessica's mother wasted no time in grabbing the child and running out the door..._

* * *

Jessica woke with a jolt when the car hit a bump and her head smashed against the window. She bit her lip and cursed under her breath as she cradled her sore head in her hands. "You okay?" Sam asked her, "You were asleep for hours!"

"Yep" she replied through gritted teeth. There was definitely going to be a bump there tomorrow. 'Fantastic' the girl thought sarcastically. Because of her pixie-cropped hair, it was going to be visible.

She idly looked in one of the rear-view mirrors. She was a mess. She had a black eye; her neck and face were covered with a myriad of bruises. She had patchy concealer smeared over her face and the tide mark was visible. There was crusted blood on her upper lip and her lips were chapped and swollen.

She ran a hand through her messy blonde crop and winced when she hit the spot that hit the window.

"You don't look so good. Should I bring you to a hospital?" he seemed genuinely concerned for her. "No!" she said vehemently, surprising herself, "I- I mean no, I have a fear of hospitals" she stuttered the first lie that popped into her head. If she went to the hospital they'd only ask where she got her injuries and she just couldn't deal with people poking and prodding her and sticking needles into her and doing endless tests. 'Maybe it's half-true' she mused to herself.

"Still, can I bring you to a buddy of mine? His mom is a nurse" he continued to ask her, not content with leaving the blonde without medical care.

Jessica sighed and gave in "How far is it to your buddy's house?"

"Just a few minutes, we're almost there actually"


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter is going to introduce Jessica's mother Joan._

_Thanks to Captain Obvious, MiniKoontzy and Dawn Racer for reviewing :)_

* * *

Joan Murray yawned as she stumbled through the door. Working a twelve-hour shift in A&E was exhausting, stressful and at times heartbreaking. She had seen lives ended over drink and pretty girls covered in bruises because they stayed with their abusive partners.

Those girls always affected her the most because she had been there. She had worn polar-neck tops when it was summer to hide the bruises on her neck, she had gone through numerous bottles of concealer to try and hide the angry red marks inflicted out of spite and a desire to control.

When she had finally divorced her husband, she felt freer than she ever had before, but also guilty as hell that she had left Jessica there. Sometimes her mind wandered, wondering what her daughter looked like now and whether she was happy or if her father's powerful fists and hurtful words had driven her to do things she would soon regret.

* * *

When Sam pulled up to his friend's house, Jessica found herself trembling with nervousness. What would this woman think of her? Would she report her or throw her out when she found out about where the marks and bruises came from? Jessica had done many things she wasn't proud of, but she still never felt like it was she that did them.

When a customer called or her dad got violent or decided to use her for his own amusement, it was like she was looking at a movie of someone else's life, like this girl doing all these filthy things wasn't her. It was like she floated above her own body and watched her betray herself over and over.

She was roused from her thoughts by the sudden appearance of a brown-eyed girl who seemed to be about the same age as herself.

"Hi I'm Miko!-" the girl stopped short as she saw the state Jessica was in. "Um... are you okay?" Miko never got her question answered as Sam quickly interjected, "Is June there? I need a favour" she grimaced at the sound of the woman's name, "Yeah, helicopter-mom is here, I'll go get her" Miko disappeared into the house and came out with a dark-haired woman in blue hospital-scrubs.

June gasped when she saw Jessica's face. The girl cringed as she was scrutinised by the nurse. "What happened to you?" the woman asked as she almost pulled Jessica out of the car and into her house.

* * *

Jessica fought to think of a valid excuse as June left her down on the couch. Eventually she gave up. "I can't tell you" If she told her she'd only get thrown out, her dad had always said if she told nobody would care, they would all know that she deserved it.

He had beaten that into her so many times she believed it herself. June rushed into the kitchen and came back out with a first aid kit. Jessica winced as the nurse rubbed anti-septic into the cuts on her neck and face where her father's wedding ring cut into her flesh. June stopped short as she saw the hickeys on Jessica's neck.

"How did you get these?" June was suspicious, she had a feeling she knew why and hoped against hope it wasn't true. Her question was met with a stubborn refusal to tell her anything. She sighed and gave the girl an ice-pack for her face. "If you don't tell me I can't help you"

The blonde stayed silent.

"Will you at least tell me your name?" June was getting exasperated. "Jessica" the girl said grudgingly. "Okay Jessica, do you have anywhere to stay?" June asked.

Jessica shook her head, "No but I'll be fine" "Will you stay here for the night then?" June didn't want to leave her sleeping in a doorway in that state, Jasper may have been a small-town in the middle of nowhere but it had its fair share of criminals.

The girl sighed, she had a feeling June wouldn't give up "Yes thanks" Jessica smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. The nurse seemed satisfied, "I'm June Darby, the girl you met was Miko and my son Jack is here too"

Jack sauntered into the room, "Hey mom can me and Miko order..." he trailed off as he saw the battered and bruised girl on the living room couch. "W-who are you?" he stuttered, surprised.

"This is Jessica. Jessica this is Jack" June introduced them.

Jessica waved half-heartedly, not liking the situation. To her boys meant one thing; trouble. Boys were customers; boys were cruel and didn't care if she had to suffer as long as they got satisfaction.

"So Jessica," Jack sounded awkward "Would you like to join us?"


End file.
